Roof hatch



July 28, 1959 AN. E. COLBURN, .1Rv 2,896,558

ROOF HATCH Filed' Deo. 18, 1953 2 snaai-5.5m l

U! s I g yll/ gI INVENTOR.

P. Fg H ,LL NORMAN E.co| BuRN,JR.

ATTO RNEYS July 278, 1959 N. E. coLBURN; .1R 2,896,558

ROOF HATCH v 2 Sheets-Sheet` 2 Filednec. 18, 1.955

INVENTOR..

NORMAN E.COLBURN,JR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent() 4 claims. (cl. 10s- 1.6)

` Mich.,assignor Mich., a corporation The invention -relates to roof hatches and refers more `particularly to `hatches for roofs -of industrial buildings.

The invention has for "one of its objects to provide La roof hatch `having means operable -`to move `the hatch leaves from closed to open `positions and` 'also having means including a temperature controlled release `dev-ice for normally holding the hatch leaves lin Iclosed posi tion operable to .allow the .iirst mentioned means to operate.

The invention has for lanother object to so construct the :hatch that the hatch leaves are adapted when fin open position to `cooperate with houses `for `Ventilating Aequipment, firefighting equipment, orother equipment -toform chimneys :to increase the draft.

These and other objects of the `invention will `become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a `roof with hatches embodying 'the invention;

Figure 2 is an elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

As illustrated in the drawings, the hatch is designed for use in a roof of an industrial building provided with houses for Ventilating equipment, fire iighting equipment, or other equipment, or with aisles between hatches, Figures 1 and 2 showing the roof with the houses 1 and the aisle 2 at the ends of adjacent hatches. The roof has suitable openings adapted to be closed by the hatches, the openings in lone instance being formed of the roof deck 3 and the houses 1, and in another instance of the roof deck 3 including the aisle 2 and a house 1. As shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the houses and roof deck are directly supported on the purlins 4 which, in turn, are supported on the roof trusses 5.

Each hatch comprises the frame 6 and the hatch leaves 7. The frame extends into a roof opening and rests directly on and is secured to the purlins 4, and comprises the side beams 8 and the end beams 9 preferably of channel section, and the side bars 10 and the end bars 11 preferably of angle section. The beams are xedly secured to each other at their ends and the bars are also secured to each other at their ends and to the beams and the beams and bars enclose an opening. The frame 6 also comprises the cross beams 12 preferably of channel section iixedly secured at their ends to the side beams 8. The hatch leaves 7 are each formed of the frame 13 and .the deck 14, the frame being suitably formed of the side bars 15 and the end bars 16 iixedly secured to each other at their ends, and also the cross bars 17 xedly secured at their ends to the side bars. conventional construction. The hatch leaves` 7 are pivotally connected at their outer side bars to the side bars 10 by the pivots 18, and in the closed positions the inner side bars are adapted to rest upon the uprights 19.` The uprights extend between and are xedly secured at their The deck is of ICC lower ends to the adjacent cross `beams 12 and -extend upwardly above the frame so that in the closed positions `of the hatch leaves they are inclined downwardly and outwardly from their inner edges. The gap between their inner edges in the closed positions is suitably closed 4by lthe cap 20 which vis secured to the -deck of one of the Ilea-ves 'and extends over the deck of the other of` the leaves. 4

To close the end spaces between the leaves 7 and the frame 6, `there are suitable panels 21 extending `upwardly lfrom -the endbars 11 'of the `frame 6 to adjacent the end 'bars 16 of the 4frame 13 of the hatch leaf.

For weather proofing the gaps between the ends` `of the :hatch leaves and the adjacent walls of the houses 1 when the hatch leaves are -in closed position, I have provided the upwardly opening channel-shaped weather `stripping 22 on the adjacent `walls of the houses `and the flashing '23 on lthe leaves extending `downwardly -into the weather stripping 22.

For urging `each of the hatch leaves to `open position at which timethey-exltend substantially vertically, asshown fin'dotted lines in Figure 3, I -have provided the pair of operating arms 24, the `links 25 and the counterweight '26. The operating arms are pivoted between their ends 'to the spaced plates 27 which depend from and are secured Vto the cross beams `12. The links 25 are pivotally connected `at their ends to the inner ends `of the operating arms and to the Ycross bars `17 of the hatch leaf intermediate their ends. The counterweight 26 `extends 4be- `tween and `is mounted lon the outer ends Aof the arms vand its `Weight ris sufficient to 'swing the hatch lleaf upwardly even when the hatch `leaf is subjected to an abnormalload,"su'ch`as that resulting fromsnow. As shown particularly in Figure 2, this mechanism extends downwardly into alternate bays formed by the roof trusses 5..

To normally hold each of the hatch leaves in closed position, I have provided a cable system comprising the cable 28 and the temperature controlled release device 29 in the cable. The cable is anchored at its ends and extends over a series of sheaves including at least two secured to the frame of each hatch leaf to reduce the load on the cable and the release device. In detail, one end `of the cable is anchored to one of the cross beams 12 and the other end is anchored to the column 30 forming part of the support for a roof truss 5. The cable extends over the sheaves 31 and 32 depending from the frame of the hatch leaf and other guiding sheaves 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37, the sheaves 33, 34 and 35 being carried by the frame 6 of the hatch, and the sheaves 36 and 37 being mounted on the column 30 and the roof truss 5 resting on the column. For the purpose of providing for ventilation, the anchor on the column 30 for the cable is a hand-operated mechanism of conventional construction, such as a winch.

With the above construction, the frame 6 forms a curb for the hatch and the hatch leaves 7 when in open position form with the walls of the houses 1 at the ends of the leaves a chimney to secure a better draft effect. This can be better understood by referring to Figure 4 wherein it will be seen that the: open leaves 7 form one pair of opposite sides of the chimney and the adjacent walls of the houses form the other pair of opposite sides. The hatch leaves are normally held in closed position by the cable system but when an abnormally high temperature resulting from a lire for example is reached, the release device 29 in the cable 28 operates to break the cable system and to allow the counterweight 26 to move the hatch leaves to open position.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A hatch for a roof having an opening therethrough comprising a frame for the opening having members forming a curb and enclosing an opening, a pair of hatch 3 t leaves for closing vthe last mentioned opening pivoted lto certain of said members opposite each other, said leaves being swingable from closed to open positions, means for swinging each of said leaves to openposition having a pivotal operating anm mounted'on said frame, a link having one end pivoted to one end of said arm and the other end pivoted to a leaf, a counterweight carried by the opposite end of said arm, and means for normally holding eachVof said Ileaves in closed position having a cable anchored at its ends `and operatively connected at a plurality of points to al leaf. v

2.V A hatch for a roof supported on purlins forming part of the roof support, comprising a frame on said purlins extending through said roof and having border members enclosing an yopening and cross members extending between certain of said border members opposite each other, a pair of hatch leaves for closing the opening pivoted to said opposite border members, said leaves being swingable from a position closing the opening to approximately vertical position uncovering the opening, means for swinging each of said leaves to approximately vertical position having a pair of operating arms pivotally mounted on said cross members intermediate the ends of said arms, links pivoted at one end to a leaf and at the other end to the ends of said arms at one side of the pivotal mounting and a counterweight on said arms at the other side of said pivotal mounting, and means for normally holding eachof said leaves in position closing the opening having sheaves on said cross members and a plurality of sheaves on a leaf, and a cable extending around said sheaves and anchored at its ends.

3. A hatch for a roof comprising a roof deck, spaced upwardly extending hofuses forming with the deck an opening, a frame for the opening enclosing a second opening, a pair of hatch leaves for closing said second opening, said leaves extending between said houses and being pivoted to said frame at opposite sides thereof for swinging movement about spaced parallel axes from said leaves to open position, and mns for normally holding each of said leaves in closed position, said houses extending upwardly above said frame at least to the level of the upperextremities of said leaves when the latter are in open position and cooperating with said leaves in -the open positions of the latter to form a chimney.

4. A hatch for a roof comprising a frame enclosing an opening, a pair of hatch leaves pivoted to opposite sides of said frame for swinging movement from a closed position to an open position extending approximately vertically upwardly from said frame, means for swinging said leaves to open position, and means at the ends of said frame providing panels extending upwardly `therefrom at least to the level of the upper extremities of said leaves when the latter are in open position and cooperating with said leaves in the open position of the latter to form a chimney.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 792,902 Kelly .Tune 20, 1905 950,839 Chadwick Mar. 1, 1910 1,418,732 Peterman June 6, 1922 1,689,131 Goodwin Oct. 23, 1928 1,898,813 Carlson Feb. 21, 1933 Y FOREIGN. PATENTS 4,986 Great Britain Dec. 6, 1906 

